A cynical commentary about developments in the South African financial markets and the incomprehensible activities and pronouncements of bureaucrats and politicians.

Monday, 9 October 2017

CHAIRING A MEETING

Suddenly it’s
all looking and feeling a bit different. Some reasonably long lived trends are
reversing and our poor rand is really battling to hang on. Exchanging one today
will buy you fewer US cents or UK pence than at any other time in the past 12
months. The compensation for this is that so-called rand-hedge shares are
touching all time highs and that is dragging the indices higher and causing
wide eyed excitement amongst the TV pundits.

The video
footage of a political meeting held earlier this week is remarkable for the
number of plastic chairs which can be seen sailing high in the air from one end
of the hall to the other. While far less deadly that the appalling shooting
incidents that are growing in number as the ruling party tries to find a new
leader, the chairs undoubtedly also cause great harm and add nothing to the
debate. Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa, who is a candidate in this contest
and who must be feeling very insecure said “we must rid our movement of flying
chairs and stop the spate of killing.” Indeed sir. Indeed.

Developments
in South Africa recall that incident when a bishop is murdered in his own
cathedral “Will no one rid me of this meddlesome priest?” This week the eternally irritating and
meddlesome Competition Commission failed to see the irony as the nation’s
biggest abuser of dominance in levelling that charge against Vodacom. Now no one
for a moment suggests that the bureaucrats and politicians who ceaselessly
hassle any corporate or individual who appears to be successful should be
carted off in a tumbril to the steps of the Union Buildings and beaten with
rolled up copies of the accused’s tax return. A long journey in a crowded
minibus taxi on a dirt road to some rural enclave with no internet should be
sufficient. The puzzle is that the fusspots are worried that Vodacom’s success has
partially arisen from winning an open tender to provide a branch of government
with services. For goodness sake. It was indeed a good and tasty contract to
win and was large because that’s what the client specified. Just leave the
private sector alone please.

It is
disheartening that the government’s obstinate refusal to acknowledge that their
racist employment policies have denied the newcomers to the workforce an
opportunity for mentoring and accumulation of the “institutional memory” so
important to customer service. The state’s first reaction to any challenge to their
own interpretation of the increasingly byzantine and convoluted legislation is
to rush to the courts seeking punishment of any who dares to question them.
Reportedly many of the new laws are so hastily and sloppily framed that the
lawyers taking part in the argy-bargy sessions are starting to rival the Guptas
in wealth. Ours!

So it wasn’t
the pension savings of government employees that were looted for the latest
bale-out of SAA. It was current expenditure programs which will soon run out of
money before they run out of month. The cash was siphoned off the General
Revenue Fund which as we have explained many times has far less dosh in it than
has been budgeted for distribution. What is it with despots and their national
airline? They’re all destined for the scrapyard
anyway as Mr Musk, the Man from Muckleneuk predicts we’ll be able to fly to anywhere
on earth in under an hour. That sounds exciting but can he also do something
about the long queues to rid passengers of their nail scissors and water
bottles and check their ID for the 10th time. Mind you, the sort of
acceleration required to meet that schedule will pretty much pin everyone to
their chair on the way up and into their seatbelt on the way down. No
opportunity for the baddies to threaten the pilot there.

That
tomorrow’s test might be the last at Newlands is sad. Apparently the power to
choose a venue has moved up the line to the SA Rugby Board itself and they
could choose Bathurst or Baltimore if they thought it would work. It’s a funny
old world.